


Fields of Gold

by to_the_wick (Jei_Stark)



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Phone Calls & Telephones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-12
Updated: 2013-05-12
Packaged: 2017-12-11 15:50:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/800442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jei_Stark/pseuds/to_the_wick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony calls Pepper at 5AM.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fields of Gold

**Author's Note:**

> This was part of a music/fic meme where you write fics for ten random songs, but I didn't bother adhering to the time limit of writing within the song's running time. Fun fact: this was written in late 2008, and the last fic I'd written before that was ten years prior. The dust probably shows, but it still holds nostalgia for me.

_I never made promises lightly  
And there have been some that I've broken  
But I swear in the days still left  
We'll walk in fields of gold_  
~ Sting, "Fields Of Gold"  
  
  
She had a meeting in New York. _They_ did, in actuality, but he'd stayed behind in Malibu -- working on the armor, on tightening security, on keeping in touch with "Mr. Green" to ensure his cooperation with the Initiative. So she handled the meeting well enough on her own, with Tony on the other end of the bluetooth, just in case.  
  
After the long evening meeting, a longer shower, and a robe so fluffy it could have been fur, Pepper found herself sitting in a plush chair on the balcony of her hotel room, hair drying in the cool morning air. She was on her cell, in another conversation with Tony, this one more relaxed and yet more hesitant all at once. He talked about everything and nothing, and she punctuated his efforts with rolling eyes and wry smiles she knew he could hear.  
  
"...And really, I'm just going completely insane here without you telling me what to do. You need a new phone, by the way, this one's terrible." He tacked it on at the end as if it belonged there. He did that a lot.  
  
She sighed, plucking at a loose bit of fabric on her robe. "Why is this one terrible, Mr. Stark."  
  
"Stop that. It's past midnight on both coasts, you're not on the clock, it's Tony. And, _Pepper,_ " he emphasized pointedly, "your cell is scratchy and the reception's bad. I don't like when I can't hear you as well as I'd like to."  
  
She let herself smile at that. "You can hear me when I get back, Tony."  
  
"But I want to hear you now." Pouting like a petulant child, she just knew.  
  
"I thought you had work to do?"  
  
"I did, I got it done." He sounded too flippant, too dismissive -- he was either lying, or telling the truth and still hiding something crucial.  
  
She frowned, and it crept into her voice. "Tony."  
  
"Really." Honesty tinged the corners of his quiet words in a way it usually didn't during the day. "I promised myself I could only bother you after I was done. I'm just sorry I took this long."  
  
"But you're not sorry for calling me at five in the morning."  
  
"Two here. Are you?" Again, tacking it on, sneaking it in. "Sorry, I mean. That I called."  
  
She took a deep breath, let it out slowly, smiled almost shyly. "No, Tony. I'm not." He'd been calling her after work for the past few weeks. At first, she was sure it had been to annoy her and entertain him, but eventually she'd gotten used to the calls, expected them. Maybe looked forward to them, if she let herself admit that.  
  
She still didn't know why he did it. Had some ideas, definitely some hopes, but nothing concrete.  
  
"Good. Hey, where are you right now?"  
  
She frowned in confusion. "I'm... outside. On the balcony. Why?"  
  
"So you're telling me you're probably in your PJs, staring up at what's going to be sunrise and talking to _me_ at five in the morning." He was probably smirking, but the matching smirk in his voice drifted away, leaving a quiet honesty in its wake, hiding between the words. "Very romantic, Ms. Potts."  
  
She had to be imagining things. It was the only option, wasn't it? Back to business, then. "Mr. Stark..."  
  
" _Tony,_ good god. And _I'm_ on the roof," he supplied. "Sitting out here bored out of my mind. Not really bored, not anymore, I'm talking to you."  
  
She stopped picking at the stray string on her robe and sat up a little straighter. "Tony." She paused, then decided to herself. This was getting out of hand, after all. Wasn't it? It was. "Why the calls?"  
  
"I like talking to you." There was no pause on his end, but there was slight confusion.  
  
"Is that _it?"_ she blurted, then paused, and then very quickly tried to amend. "I mean, because you have--"  
  
"No, that's--"  
  
"--other things to do and so do I--"  
  
"--that's not it, that's not it at all--"  
  
"--and it's just always so late--"  
  
"Pepper, stop."  
  
She stopped, silently thankful that she wasn't continuing her quiet babble. She let her free hand finally flop down on her lap again, having only just realized she'd been making nervous gestures in the air.  
  
He was much quieter now. "Have I apologized yet for that night?"  
  
A sigh. "Only more than a dozen times." And he had, too. With every phone call. Slipped in between casual flirting and running through his schedule for the following day.  
  
"Because I'm sorry. I am. It was stupid, I was stupid."  
  
"It's okay."  
  
"No, it's not." He was gently insistent now. "It's not okay that I finally notice you only after, what, six years and change? And not just notice you as the best assistant on the West Coast, probably the country. I should give you another raise, remind me to do that when you get back." She laughed quietly despite her heart thudding, heard him smile in reply. "I noticed you, Pepper. I noticed you and I'm sorry I didn't until now."  
  
"I..." And she faltered at this. Where was this going? She tried again. "Tony..."  
  
"Have I mentioned yet how absolutely beautiful you were that night?" He asked suddenly, interrupting, pressing on. "You were. I'm serious. I mean, you _are_ and like I said I'm just realizing this, but that night was -- different. Different good, not different bad," he added, and she quickly realized he was rambling. _Babbling,_ even. "Your hair, and that dress, and, and. And just you, really. I mean it, Pepper." The quiet way in which he said her name sent another quick thud to her heart.  
  
It was unnerving, to say the least, having his honesty hit her that hard. Sure, it was tempered by his... nervousness? But it didn't change the fact that he was talking about, well, what he was talking about. It occurred to her then that she didn't know what to say to him now. Aside from the obvious. "...Thank you, Tony."  
  
She heard him take a breath at that. As if her saying _his_ name like that had done something to him. "I'll make it up to you, I promise. For now, though, we have a semi-romantic night under the stars, and that's a start. Right?" Hopeful.  
  
A quick look at the golden sky made her smile. "Tony, it's sunrise here now."  
  
"Yeah, it is. Which is too bad, really. We'll need to do this stargazing thing when we're on the same coast. Schedule that sometime soon, Ms. Potts."  
  
"I'll do that."  
  
"Good. Thank you, Ms. Potts."  
  
"You're welcome, Mr. Stark."  
  
There was a long silence, punctuated by quiet breathing. She knew they were both smiling now. She didn't know where that put them -- where any of this put them -- but it was nice to be there anyway. Wherever 'there' was.  
  
"You know, these comfortable silences would be better if I could see you."  
  
She rolled her eyes and fought back a yawn. "I'm going to bed, Tony. And so should you."  
  
"Well, I would, but it'll take me a few hours to get there. Can you wait that long?"  
  
"Tony." Like chiding a bad child. Or a puppy.  
  
"Pepper?" he countered, faking obliviousness.  
  
She sighed. She did a lot of that around him. "Go to sleep."  
  
"I will, I'm going to. So what are you wearing?"  
  
She knew he could hear the back of her head thunk against her chair in faux exasperation. She knew because she heard him chuckle. "I'm going now," she insisted, trying not to chuckle herself.  
  
"Okay, okay."  
  
She took a breath, hesitated. "Tony?"  
  
"Pepper?"  
  
Her eyes stared up as she found the words. She wondered briefly if he was watching the stars. "Thank you. For... noticing me."  
  
"It's hard not to now, honestly." He paused. "Is that wrong? I don't want it to be."  
  
"I don't know, Tony," she answered truthfully. "But I like... being noticed. By you."  
  
"And I like noticing you. So really, this is a good setup we have going."  
  
She now found herself not wanting to finish the conversation, despite the silence that followed. Maybe because of it. Because it was comfortable, and warm. And her heart beat a little bit faster during these nightly conversations. Conversations that just shouldn't happen between a boss and his employee.  
  
"Goodnight, Tony." Hushed, warm.  
  
"Goodnight, Pepper." The warmth in his voice covered her like a blanket.  
  
She forced herself to press End and put away her phone. She needed to dry her hair, to put on PJs, to climb into bed and sleep. She didn't need to dream about his voice.  
  
She probably would anyway.


End file.
